Chapter 15: Chapter 15: Flight

Eve POV:

Over the next week, Kara did brighten up. A few smiles, here and there. She even managed a laugh when I cursed at the Kryptonian kitchen appliances. They just made no sense! ‘Why would a blender look like a rice cooker?’

“It’s a gastronomic atomizer,” Kara explained. “You use it to make whatever you put in it come out sliced however you want. Just adjust the settings.”

‘Huh, interesting. Wait, I spoke that out loud?’

“Yes, you did,” Kara said with a giggle. It was a beautiful and rare sound to hear. But…

“We need to get out,” I declared, and her giggles froze. “We’ve been stuck in here for a week. We need some air. To see the sun, stretch our legs.”

“I…” Kara hesitated and I could see the darkness returning to her eyes. I preempted her before she could start to make any protests.

“I’m not saying we need to go shopping or anything, just… out,” I insisted. “We’re in the middle of one of the most deserted places on Earth, and you haven’t even tried flying yet. C’mon, please?”

I had walked over and knelt down in front of her and stared at her with puppy-dog eyes. Was I playing it up? Yes. Was it obvious? Yes. But if Kara had started to care about me as much as I had about her over the past week, she would care what I wanted.

“Y-You don’t need me for that, right?” she protested. “You can go flying by y—”

“I’m not leaving you,” I insisted. “You come with me, or I stay here with you and slowly grow insane.”

Her mouth slammed shut and she went quiet for a long while. She still held my gaze, and I could see her go from panic to resignation before she sighed.

“Fine,” she finally said, and I beamed at her. “But just a little while, alright? I don’t— I’m not… ready for—”

I could see the fear in her eyes. That she actually agreed to come with me despite her fears meant more to me than I could ever say. I leaned up and embraced her in a comforting hug that she gently returned; careful not to break anything.

“Thank you,” I whispered softly. “I will press you, but you just say when you’ve had too much and we’ll go back. Promise.”

I let go of the hug after a little while and pulled her to her feet. Her movements were a little stiff, but she didn’t resist when I dragged her towards the…

“Um… AI, where is the door?”

I saw a brief flicker of a twitch on Kara’s lips before the projection of Jor-El’s form appeared and led the way. Kal-El had given me guest privileges, which meant I could ask the AI for simple stuff. Like directions. To non-restricted areas, of course. He didn’t want me walking into the armory or something.

“Did Kryptonian homes always have an AI?” I asked as we followed the projection. I could see that she was stuck in her head so I tried to distract her.

“Um, yeah,” she answered. “All the homes I saw did, at least. Maybe not the lower caste homes, but everyone from the Science Guild did.”

“You’re a scientist, right? Think you wanna continue that here?”

“You knew me from those comics, which means I’m supposed to become a ‘superhero’,” she said with an emotion I couldn’t identify. “That’s what you want, right?”

I raised an eyebrow at her and answered, “I want you to be happy. Whether that means you’ll be a superhero or a bulletproof scientist — or anything else — is for you to find out. I just know you won’t be happy sitting around here— Fuck!”

Suddenly, the temperature plummeted like a rock as we passed through a barrier and exited the fortress. And out into the North Pole.

“We have reached the entranceway, miss Eve, miss Kara,” the AI said matter-of-factly.

“Are you okay?” Kara asked in a worried tone, clearly confused as to what had happened.

“I think my tits just inverted,” I said, rubbing my arms in a futile attempt to chase away the cold. Then, when she just looked confused, I continued, “It’s really cold out here. Sun-powered Kryptonians won’t notice, but a human like me will freeze to death out here.”

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We were standing in the shadow of the fortress, so there wasn’t even any sunlight to warm me up. Not that it would have made much of a difference in this arctic wasteland.

“Oh,” she said and I could see a flash of relief cross her face. “Well, I guess we can just do this another day then—”

“Nope,” I interrupted her. “You said you would, so we’re doing this. Just gimme a sec.”

I cast ‘Alter Self’ with the thought of ‘arctic adaptation’, and felt my skin shift. The cold became less noticeable as my skin became thicker and started to grow a thick, purple layer of fur.

Kara stared at me wide-eyed as I shifted. I had explained and showed her some of my magic, and she was always fascinated by it.

“There!” I said with a satisfied grin and rose a little off the ground, ready to start flying. “No problem. Barely feel the cold anymore.”

“Alright,” Kara said with a resigned sigh. “But, um… I don’t actually know how to fly.”

“Hmm…” I considered before a mischievous grin spread across my face. “Want to learn the fast way or the slow way?”

She narrowed her eyes at me, clearly having deduced that I was up to something.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Slow option is you keep trying until you get it,” I answered. “And you promised me a flight together so we stay outside until you get it. Fast option is I carry you up in the air and trigger your instincts.”

She kept her eyes narrowed at me for a second before she relaxed and closed them. Since she seemed focused, presumably on trying to make her body lift off the ground, I just waited patiently. She had a cute frown on her face, and I could see some particles of snow shift around her, but no liftoff.

“Fine!” she huffed after a minute or so. “Let’s try the fast way.”

“As you wish, m’lady,” I said with a grin and went to lift her. I still couldn’t cast ‘Enhance Ability’ at the same time as ‘Alter Self’, but I had kept up with the training Dinah had assigned me. Despite their strength, Kryptonians weren’t any heavier than humans, so I easily managed to lift her in a princess carry before lifting off the ground.

I rose up above the shadow of the fortress, and as we entered the sunlight I heard a relieved intake of breath from Kara. Kal-El had told me that yellow sunlight radiation reached nearly everywhere on Earth, so their cells would always be charging a little. But being in direct sunlight was many times more effective. Especially on the North Pole, where the magnetosphere funneled all the radiation ‘Maybe I should have put on some sunscreen? Oh, well.’

Kara had been inside for a while now, and this would be the first time she actually felt the yellow sun on her skin. The Fortress was designed to let a certain amount of solar radiation through, but, again, nothing like getting a direct hit. I imagined it would be like walking out of a crowded room and into the fresh air.

“Like it?” I asked with a grin.

“Yeah,” she answered simply. Her voice sounded lighter than I had ever heard it, and she had a peaceful smile on her face as she faced the sun like a sunflower. She was beautiful.

“So,” I said, after giving her a moment (and myself, because that smile was distracting). “Wanna try flying again?”

“Yeah,” she said in that same peaceful tone, and I could feel her getting a little lighter in my arms as she focused.

After a minute or so she frowned and said, “I’m sorry. I can feel the power in my body, but I don’t know how to channel it.”

“Hmm…” I pondered. “Guess we really do need to trigger your instincts.”

She raised an eyebrow at me. “And being in the air like this isn’t enough?”

“Do you feel safe in my arms?” I asked.

“Well… yeah,” she answered, and I swear I could see a small blush in her cheeks.

“...”

“...”

“Sorry,” I said regretfully.

“For what?” she asked. And I dropped her.

“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeve!”

A second later she was centimeters in front of my face, a furious look in her eyes.

“What in Rao’s name are you doing! I trusted you!”

“...”

“...” Her eyes widened and the fury was replaced by surprise and wonder.

“...”

“What…?” She looked down and saw that she was hanging in the air next to me, several hundred meters off the ground.

“Gravity has no power over you,” I said with a grin. “And even if it did, the ground is no more dangerous to you than a pillow.”

I did feel a little guilty for dropping her. Sure, I knew she would be alright, even if she didn’t figure out how to fly. But still…

Kara didn’t seem to mind anymore, though. Her anger had been replaced by confusion, which was quickly turning into a look of pure joy. After only seeing rare, guarded smiles between sadness and apathy for the last week, seeing her like this felt so good it was almost painful.

“Eve?” Kara asked suddenly. “Are you alright?”

I blinked and blushed a little as I realized I had been staring at her for a full minute as she spun around in the air.

“Ahem. Yeah, I’m fine,” I said, a little bashful. “It’s just… it’s good to see you smile.”

She blinked a couple of times in surprise before her face turned into a smile that was warmer than the arctic sun. She drifted slowly towards me and wrapped her arms around me in a tight embrace.

“Thank you,” she whispered. Her voice sounded more vulnerable than I had heard it before. It held all her sorrow and pain from losing her home, but there was so much more in it now. It had an undertone of peace and hope. As if all her burdens had just become so much lighter.

As she held me, I was powerless to do more than hug her back as tears froze on our cheeks. For once, they were happy tears.